Car-coupling



(No Model.)

G. T. THOMPSON. GAR COUPLING.

No. 433,664. Patented Aug. 5, 1890.

uwn s mmmm\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OROZIER T. THOMPSON, OF PIPER CITY, ILLINOIS.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,664, dated August5, 1890.

Application filed April 14, 1890. Serial No. 347,763. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OROZIER T. THOMPSON, of Piper City, Ford county,State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOar-Couplings, of which I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

My present invention has relation more particularly to that class ofoar-couplings wherein the draw-head is provided with means fortemporarily sustaining the coupling-pin in such manner that when thedraw-heads are shunted together the support for the coupling-pin will bemoved to such extent as to permit the pin to drop into the link tocouple the draw-heads. An example of this type of car-coupling isillustrated in Letters-Patent No. 406,970, granted to me July 16, 1889.

My invention has for its object, first, to improve the means whereby thecoupling-pin is supported in position to be automatically dropped intothe link, and, secondly, to improve the means whereby the link will beheld in approximately horizontal position in order to insure its entryinto the mouth of the companion draw-head when the cars are shuntedtogether to be coupled.

To this end my invention consists in the various novel features ofconstruction, hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of thisspecification.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of a freight-car havingmyimprovement-s applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a View in vertical sectionthrough two draw-heads embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a View inhorizontal section through the draw-heads, parts being shown in plan.Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the pin-support. Fig. 5 is a view intrans verse section on line 5 5 of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a view in sideelevation of one of the draw-heads. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective viewof my improved form of link-holder.

A and A denote the draw-heads of the car. These draw-heads may be of anydesired size or shape so long as they are capable of having my inventionapplied thereto. So, also, the coupling-pins B and B and the link 0 maybe of any usual or suitable construction. Each of the draw-heads isformed as a hollow casting with the usual expanded mouth a to receivethe link 0, and each draw-head is provided with the usual hole a for itscoupling-pin.

In applying to the d raw-heads my improved construction of support forthe coupling-pin, I prefer to form the draw-head with an opening b inits side adapted to receive the pinsupport D, that is held in place by.means of a pivot-pin d, that. passes vertically through the draw-headand through one end of the pin-support D. By preference the pivot-pin (Zis formed as more particularly seen in Fig. 5that is to say, the lowerpart of this pin is of small diameter, the central part of the pin issquare, and the upper part is of larger diameter, the purpose of thisarrangement being to enable the pin while securely holding thecoupling-pin support D in position to afford a means whereby thispin-support D can be turned into position to support the couplingpin, aswill presently more fully appear.

To enable the pin-support D to be con veniently moved, I prefer also toform the upper end of the pivot-pin cl with a head cl that can be easilyturned by hand. The pinsupport D has its bottom edge preferably formedwith a beveled portion (Z adapted to rest upon a correspondingly beveledseat (1 formed at the edge of the opening 17 of the draw-head. Mypurpose'in thus beveling the bottom edge of the pin-support andproviding for it a beveled seat is to better hold this pinsupport withinthe opening I) in the side of the draw-head when the support is notinuse. So, also, the support D is made somewhat narrower than the opening1), within which it is held in order to permit the support to riseslightly when it is turned into position to support the coupling-pin. Bypreference the beveled portion of the pin-support D does not extendentirely across the bottom edge of such support; but the extreme loweredge of this support is fiat, so as to afford a firmer bearing for thepin-support upon the corresponding fiat upper edge of the seat 61 whenthe support is turned into position to sustain the coupling-pin. Fromthis construction it will be seen that when. it is desired to hold thecoupling-pin B in elevated position, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings,it

' is only necessary to turn the nut d of the pivot-pin d in such manneras to swing the free end of the pin-support D beneath the opening a ofthe coupling-pin. The coupling pin B will then rest upon the upper faceof the pin-support, and will be in position to drop into thecoupling-link when this link is forced into the jaw of the draw-head.

It will beobserved that as the pin-support Dis turned from the normalposition shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 3 to a position to supportthe coupling-pin, as shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 3, the bevelededge 01 of the pin-support will ride upward on the beveled seat (1 theexcess width of the opening 1) in the draw-head permitting this up- Wardmovement of the pin-support l). \Vhen, however, the draw-heads areshunted together, the coupling-link C will strike against thepin-support D, causing this support to swing backward and permit thecoupling-pin B to drop into the link 0. As the pin-support D is thusswung backward, its beveled edge (1 will move downward on the beveledseat 61 and the weight of the pin-support D will tend to hold it in theposition shown at the righthand side of Fig. 3 of the drawings. By thusemploying a pin-support sustained in such manner that it will swingbackward and laterally when struck by the coupling-link in the act ofcoupling the cars, all danger of breaking the pin-support isavoided,while at the same time the pin-support is simplified in itsconstruction and is sustained when out of use in a position where itwill be less liable to be affected by the movements of the car, and whenin use will be in position to effectively sustain the coupling-pin.

In order to sustain the coupling-link G in proper position to insure itsentering the mouth of the companion draw-head when the ears are shuntedtogether, I have provided the improved construction of link-holder nextto be described.

Through the chamber a of each draw-head is passed a journal-pine,whereon is sustained the rear end of the link-holder E, thislinkholder being of suitable size and construction to enable it toengage with one end of the link 0 and retain this link inapproximatelyhorizontal position, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Bypreference the link-holder e is furnished at its outer or free end witha seat 6', wherein will rest the end of the link 0, this seat 6 being ofsufficient depth to receive the link, and being provided, preferably,with a-nib or lug e to hold the link against danger of accidentaldisplacement.

The bottom of the link-holderE is provided with an arm or extension E,adapted to pass through an openingb in the bottom of the draw-head. Fromthis construction it will be seen that when the link 0 is to be set inposition to permit the draw-heads to be coupled, the link holder E willbe lifted by the train-hand by forcing upward the projection E until theholder is in proper position to permit one end of the link to beinserted within the seat 6 at the end of the link-holder and behind thelug e as seen at the righthand side of Fig. 2. WVhen thus held, the link0 will be in approximately-horizontal position, so that when thedraw-heads are shunted together the outer end of the link 0 will enterthe mouth a of the draw-head A and will force backward the pin-supportD, so as to cause the coupling-pin B to drop into the link and to causethe pin-support to swing into its normal position within the opening I)at the side of the draw-heads. As soon as the cars are drawn forwardafter having been thus coupled, the slight separation of the draw-headswill cause the link 0 to be drawn from out the seat e of thelink-holder,permitting this holder to drop to its seat in the bottom of the chamberof the draw-head, as seen at the left-hand side of Fig. 2 of thedrawings. That part of the chamber a of the draw-head wherein thelink-holder moves should be of sufficient size to allow a free verticalplay of the link-holder, so that in case the draw-heads are of unequalheight the upward or downward deflection of the coupling-link C,incident to its insertion into the companion draw-head, can freely swingupward or downward the link-holder E without danger of breakage.

In order to permit the link-holder E to be readily inserted into thechamber a of the draw-head, I prefer to form the draw-head with anopening in its top adapted to be closed by a plate A this plate havingpreferably beveled edges adapted to engage with correspondingly-bevelededges a at the sides of the opening, so as to hold the plate A againstvertical movement, and by preference, also, the plate A will be heldagainst lateral movement by means of a screw a passing through thisplate and into a threaded hole in one side of the draw-head.

By preference each of the coupling-pins B and B will be connected to achain F, leading to the top of the car, so that the uncoupling of thecars may be effected when desired by the train-hand upon the top of anycar,

and by preference, also, each end of the car couple the cars withoutpassing between them,

this can be done by the train-hand either on the-roof of the car bylifting the chain F, or can be done from the sides of the cars by merelyswinging upward one of the arms 9 causing a corresponding upwardmovement of the arm g, thereby lifting the coupling-pin from out thedraw-head of the car.

The precise details of construction above set out may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and features of theinvention may be adapted without its use as an entirety.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

. 1. The combination, with the draw-head having the cut-away space inits side, of a pin-support pivotally held in said cut-away space andadapted to be swung beneath the pin-hole to sustain the coupling-pin,and adapted to be forced rearwardly and laterally into line with theside wall of the draw-head to close said cut-away space and to permitthe coupling-pin to drop into the link, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the draw-head having the cut-away space in itsside, of a pin-support pivotally sustained at one side of the draw-headand entirely within said cutaway space and a pivot-pin connected to oneend of said pin-support and provided at its outer end with a headwhereby said pin-support can be turned to bring it beneath the pinholeof the draw-head to supportthe couplingpin, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the draw-head having a suitable seat for thelink-holder in its lower portion, of a link-holder pivoted within thedraw-head and having its free end adapted to engage the link and adaptedto drop beneath the line of said link when the link has been withdrawntherefrom,substan tially as described.

'4. The combination, with the draw-head having a cutaway space in itsbottom, of a link-holder pivoted at its rear end and provided at itsfront end with a seat to receive the link and provided upon its underside with an extension adapted to project through the bottom opening ofthe draw-head, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the draw-head having an opening in its bottomside, of a vertically-movable link-holder pivotallysustained Within thedraw-head, said link-holder being provided with a lug at its free end toengage the link and being provided with an extension adapted to projectthrough the bottom opening of the draw-head, substantially as described.

OROZIER T. THOMPSON.

Vfitnesses:

GEO. P. FISHER, J11, J. B. CARPENTER.

